Mahakala (Art by G-Host Lee)
Mahākāla is a fierce and powerful deity common to Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism.
Overview[]
Mahākāla is relied upon in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism and is depicted in a number of variations, each with distinctly different qualities and aspects. He is also regarded as the emanation of different beings in different cases. In Buddhism, Mahākāla is a fierce form of Vishnu, While in Hinduism, Mahākāla is a fierce manifestation of both Shiva and Vishnu (Narasimha), and is the consort of the goddess Mahākālī; he most prominently appears in the Kalikula sect of Shaktism.
Though he is best known as a wrathful manifestation of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. He is a Dharmapala (Dharma Protector) and one of the eight main Dharmapalas, alongside Yama, Yamantaka, Hayagriva, Vaisravana, Palden Lhamo, Tshangspa Dkarpo, and Begtse.
Description[]
Mahakala has four arms, three eyes and is of the brilliance of 10 million black fires of dissolution, dwells in the midst of eight cremation grounds. He is adorned with eight skulls, seated on five corpses, holds a trident, a drum, a sword and a scythe in his hands. He is adorned with ashes from the cremation ground and surrounded by numbers of loudly shrieking vultures and jackals. At his side is his consort symbolized as Kālī. Both Mahakala and Kālī represent the ultimate destructive power of Brahman and they are not bounded by any rules or regulations. They have the power to dissolve even time and space into themselves and exist as Void at the dissolution of the universe.
Mahakala is typically black in color. Just as all colors are absorbed and dissolved into black, all names and forms are said to melt into those of Mahakala, symbolizing his all-embracing, comprehensive nature. Black can also represent the total absence of color, and again in this case it signifies the nature of Mahakala as ultimate or absolute reality.